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April 26, 2007
Legislation introduced to Save Internet Radio!
What a week! The outpouring of public support for internet radio over the past seven days has been nothing short of extraordinary.
Following our outreach to Pandora listeners, every congressional office was flooded with constituent phone calls, emails and faxes - literally hundreds of thousands in just 5 days! The entire fax system on the Hill was brought to a standstill. We had to hand deliver the faxes!
The response in DC has been dramatic and immediate. A bill was introduced today to reverse this terrible ruling and bring rationality to bear on this issue.
The bill is called the Internet Radio Equality Act, HR 2060 and is being introduced by Representatives Jay Inslee (D-WA) and Donald Manzullo (R-IL). For more info go to SaveNetRadio
Please take a moment to call your congress person to voice your support for this legislation and urge them to sponsor or support the bill. It's very important the we keep pressure on the legislators to ensure that this bill is passed quickly.
If you need help determining who your member of the House of Representatives is, go to www.house.gov where, in the upper left hand corner, you can enter your zip code and get the corresponding Congressperson. Click on their name to access the main phone number of their Washington, D.C. office.
Also, a heads up that I'll be hosting a town hall next Monday evening in the capital. We'll be on the Hill meeting with representatives and are having a special meetup. It'll be followed by an evening of music and a party hosted by the SaveNetRadio coalition. It's a free event - and friends are welcome. Come join the army of webcasters, musicians, politicians and others that are driving this campaign for a night of music and conversation. Details:
Where: Be Bar , 1318 9th Street NW
When: Monday, April 30th @ 6:30 PM
RSVP: Send email to tim.westergren@pandora.com
Hope to see you there...
Thank you again for all of your support.
Tim (Founder)
Posted by Tim Westergren at 10:43 PM
Pandora Podcast #11: Major & Minor
Take a listen! Our latest podcast, Episode 11, just went live.
This ten-minute show looks at major and minor chords, and how they are used in a variety of styles. We explore the push and pull that happens when you match major keys with sad lyrics, and show how some songwriters will use a minor-key verse to set up a push into the major-key chorus. Helping us dig into this often overlooked aspect of songsmithery is Scott Pinkmountain from the band P.A.F. Scott was born and raised down south in the City of Angels, Los Angeles.
Go straight to Episode 11 here, or head over to the main podcast page to see and hear all of these free shows.
On that podcast page, you can chat with Scott and me. Both of us are happy to debate tonality until the cows come home.
Thanks,
Kevin
Posted by Kevin Seal at 9:54 PM
Play Listen Repeat Vol. 13
Greetings listeners,
Thanks for all the comments on the posts, and for the great feedback from the lyrics podcast.
This week I thought it would be cool to see what people here are listening to - as you can imagine, everyone from the executive staff to the engineers to of course the analysts listens to lots and lots of music. Here's a sampling of today's action:
Eric B (engineer) is listening to Leaving the Frantic by Sten
Eli B (engineer) is listening to Tired Sounds of Stars of the Lid by Stars Of The Lid
Tim W (founder) is listening to anything from Ben Folds...
Dina Z (communications) is listening to Armchair Apocrypha by Andrew Bird
Chris H (analyst) is listening to You Are Beautiful At All Times by Yppah
Scott R (analyst) is listening to John Phillips - John Phillips
Joe K (ceo) is listening to Counting Crows
Mike C (listener advocate) is listening to The Papercuts - Can't Go Back
Olivier Z (engineer) is listening to Rosenberg Trio - Live at the North Sea Jazz Festival
Carl E (engineer) is listening to Natasha Beddingfield - Unwritten
Alyssa W (bd and ad sales) is listening to Hello Radio--The Songs of They Might Be Giants
Patrick G (analyst) is listening to The Moving Parts - Wrong Conclusion
Ian E (listener advocate) is listening to Engineers - Engineers
Alan L (analyst) is listening to Darol Anger - Heritage
Neil M (engineer) is listening to Pink Martini
Jasmyn W (listener advocate) is listening to Gene Clark - Flying High
Kurt K (analyst) is listening to OHM: The Early Gurus of Electronic Music
Vic W (engineer) is listening to Amy Winehouse - Back to Black
Melody P (analyst) is listening to Lhasa de Sela - La Llorona
Matt C (analyst) is listening to Dmitri from Paris
Steve G (director of technical operations) is listening to Derek Trucks Band - Soul Serenede
Dan L-H (design) is listening to The Police
Adam B (analyst) is listening to Midlake - The Trials of Van Occupanther
Russell J (analyst) is listening to Tom Waits - Orphans
Marc N (engineer) is listening to Kurt Elling - Nightmoves
Tony C (graphic design) is listening to Pop Levi - The Return to Form Black Magick Party
Ray J (analyst) is listening to Willie Nelson - Crazy: The Demo Sessions
David S (analyst) The End - Within Dividia
Ariah F (analyst) is listening to Amy Winehouse - Back to Black
Jeffrey B (analyst) is listening to Loka's Fire Shepherds
Paul N (engineer) is listening to Alison Ray - Downside Up
Danny E (analyst) is listening to Mavis Staples Have a Little Faith
Mike A (analyst) is listening to Lifesavas
and you?
best,
mz
Posted by Michael Zapruder at 9:43 PM | Comments (15)
April 23, 2007
Music Played For Our "Pandora Everywhere Platform" Event
We at Pandora would like to take an opportunity to thank the artists who gave us permission to play their recordings during the party for the new Pandora Everywhere Platform. Please check out the songs and pages linked below to learn more about these artists.
COUNTRY (courtesy of Big Machine)
by Jack Ingram |
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by Danielle Peck |
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by Jimmy Wayne |
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by Taylor Swift |
ACOUSTIC ROCK (courtesy of Righteous Babe)
by Ani DiFranco |
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by Andrew Bird |
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by Anais Mitchell |
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by Michael Meldrum |
JAZZ (courtesy of Palmetto)
by Fred Hersch |
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by Ted Nash |
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by Ben Allison |
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by Marty Erlich |
Posted by Kevin Seal at 4:37 PM | Comments (0)
April 16, 2007
SAVENETRADIO... Please join us!
My deepest thanks to everyone who has been so supportive these past few weeks as we've confronted the stunning development with the internet radio royalty rates. It has been very heartening for all of
us to experience such a groundswell of support from our listeners.
Today, in coordination with a fast growing consortium of webcasters big and small, commercial and non-commercial, we are launching a campaign to reverse this pending disaster.
I hope you'll join us. To add your voice to this movement, please take a minute to sign the PETITION urging your representatives in congress to act at the new website Savenetradio.org.
And please share this petition link with friends: http://capwiz.com/saveinternetradio/issues/alert/?alertid=9631541
Our first goal is to demonstrate the magnitude of the injustice being committed here through the sheer volume of people it affects. We plan to rapidly follow this effort with the introduction of a bill in congress to protect ourselves once and for all from these predatory maneuvers.
The last couple weeks have made it quite clear to us that it's going to take nothing short of a major public outcry to reverse the results of this concerted campaign by the RIAA to shutter internet radio.
As awareness of this ruling and its consequences are spreading through the musicians' community, we are being joined daily by hundreds of artists and their organizations for whom internet radio has become such a promising new outlet.
Thanks again for your wonderful and on-going support. I hope you will become an
active part of this effort.
Best regards,
Tim (Founder)
Posted by Tim Westergren at 8:52 AM | Comments (65)
April 15, 2007
Pandora Podcast #10: Song Lyrics
Ding ding ding, podcast is up. Fresh podcast. Get it while it's hot.
Episode Ten is the first of our shows to get its hands dirty in the untidy business of lyric-writing. Our guest is Pandora music curator and Play Listen Repeat columnist Michael Zapruder. He and I talk about the topography of a song, heap effusive praise on writers we admire (Ray Davies, Joni Mitchell, Aesop Rock), and see how his song "The Alchemist" is contextually similar to Ice-T's "Cop Killer" and Eminem's "Kim." Michael is originally from the great state of Maryland.
Go directly to the new episode here, or head over to the main podcast page to see and hear all ten shows.
Also, on that show page, you can ask us any questions you'd like, or disagree vehemently with us. Michael and I will be on there fielding comments and quoting David Berman lyrics.
Respectfully,
Kevin
Posted by Kevin Seal at 9:45 AM | Comments (1)
April 11, 2007
Back from Podcamp NYC
I had no idea what to expect from Podcamp NYC. Predictions of a modern-day Wet Hot American Summer were soon disspelled: no underwear run up flagpoles, no basketweaving classes, no bug-juice-fueled hijinx between nubile young counselors.
Upon entrance, each of the 1300 registered participants was asked to sign a release form allowing his or her likeness to be displayed publicly. I thought this odd until I walked into a session and saw that many people there were taping and filming everything for their own podcasts. A vortex of cameras and microphones, with nearly every person recording every other person. Is this the future?
Podcamp NYC also provided a chance to meet podcasting celebs such as Jason Van Orden (creator of the Podcasting Underground), Andrew Baron (writer/producer of Rocketboom.com and now podcast producer for the John Edwards campaign), C.C. Chapman (host of Accident Hash) and Amy Webb (the former Wall Street Journal reporter turned podworld chronicler).
It was also a chance to hear an array of Podsafe music. "Podsafe" means that the musician has agreed to have his or her composition included in podcasts for free. Podsafety is an extension of the Creative Commons, granting a one-time use license to our community of podcasters. I'm all for it.
The final night's Big Rock Show at the Canal Room was a benefit for the Boomer Esiason Foundation's fight to cure cystic fibrosis. As a lifelong Bengals fan, I was more than happy to support Team Boomer. Artists such as Her & King's County (quite short-skirted and pictured above), Brother Love (pictured below), and Natalie Gelman all performed at Podcamp, and met with many of the show hosts who have been playing their songs. Keith and the Girl, hosts of the Keith and the Girl podcast, emceed.
My favorite panel of the weekend may have been the lineup with Canadian musician Jay Moonah from Uncle Seth and the Online Music Marketing show, Ariel Hyatt of Ariel Publicity, DJ Copperhead from Next Big Hit, and Eric Skiff from Glitch NYC (all pictured below).
I learned a great deal, and was pleased to meet so many East Coast podcasters. With the Pandora Podcast Series still in its infancy, it was humbling to meet folks who are on Episode 320. Our Episode 10 goes up next Wednesday.
Posted by Kevin Seal at 11:31 AM | Comments (1)
April 9, 2007
Miami, FL Recap!
First chance to have a meeting with folks post royalty board ruling. Great to see how energized people are about this issue. Very heartening for us as we enter what is likely to be a long and difficult fight to reverse this ruling. It's clear that the grassroots support of listeners is going to be critical.
Thanks to Esther for being such a great Hostess at her stunning modern art museum. Every community needs one of those.
People arrived to a sound/light installation art piece that Esther has in the space. Really cool visuals.
Very diverse group of people, which I always love. Comments about hip hop stations, classic rock, and Taylor Hicks... It was also nice to have bunch of fellow pandorans in attendance who were in Miami - Cheryl, Jack, and Jen, thanks for stopping by.
Thanks to those who gave some videotaped testimonials after the discussion. Really appreciate your willingness to go on camera.
Headed out of town the next day for San Diego...
Tim (Founder)
Posted by Tim Westergren at 2:45 PM
Play Listen Repeat Vol. 12
Hello!
In my work curating Pandora's music collection, I visit a lot of music-related websites.
So in the spirit of sharing the wealth (and of being able to collect more great music for you folks) I'd love to see a list of your favorite sites for discovering new music and learning about back catalog etc.
Here are just a few of the many, many sites I regularly check out:
What are your best resources?
cheers,
mz
ps - oh, and please do not put individual bands' website urls up here! let's keep this to general resources that we can all use. thanks!
Posted by Michael Zapruder at 9:55 AM | Comments (21)
April 4, 2007
Pandora Podcast #9: Upright Bass
As of today, the newest podcast is ready for you to download (free), listen to on our page (free), or add to your iPod or other portable audio device (also free).
For our ninth show, it's a headfirst leap into the world of upright bass. We delve into the role of the acoustic bass in jazz, blues, and rock n' roll, and walk you through a walking bass part for a I-vi-ii-V chord sequence. Our guest for this episode is Seth Ford-Young, a bassist who has appeared on recordings by Tom Waits, Jellyroll, Mia and Jonah, and Myles Boisen. Seth is originally from the Washington D.C. area.
Check out the new episode here, or head over to the main podcast page to see all nine episodes.
Thanks for listening, and for your comments. It's great to hear from you.
Waka jawaka,
Kevin
Posted by Kevin Seal at 9:42 AM | Comments (3)
April 2, 2007
Play Listen Repeat Vol. 11
Greetings,
More good comments and discussions last time. Thanks to all who read and post each week!
I think I'm still generally contemplating the ramifications of all things copyright this week. I just started reading The Rose and the Briar: Death, Love and Liberty in the American Ballad, and just reading the first few essays, which discuss songs like Barbara Allen and The Water is Wide, I found myself wondering about how these old songs might have fared had they been written today.
These haunting, archetypical songs come from anonymous sources, not from single authors, and because of that, I think an interesting parallel can be drawn between the shared origins of these classic ballad songs and something contemporary like mashups.
Now, I'm not comparing the importance of, say, the Grey Album to a seven hundred year old song. However, the classic ballads exemplify what is artistically potent in the tranformation of personal content to shared content. Whatever you might think about mashups as a genre, a similar absorption of sources is at play. Who really knows where mashups might end up if they continue for 500 years?
Had the current copyright laws been in place in the 1500's, that original version of a song might have been closed, insulated from the subsequent additions that transformed it from a singular bit of storytelling into a shared repository of human wisdom, dread, wonderment, and community.
So, if there is something shared and communal in the essential nature of music, and especially in songs, then would it follow that restricting the creative community's freedom to amend, alter and interact with new ideas is in conflict with the essence of the art?
Have at it,
mz
Posted by Michael Zapruder at 12:21 PM | Comments (8)
